“We want this to be the final act of a saga that’s gone on for far too long,” the mayor said. “The commissioner said that our community has every right to present a counter offer that’s fair and competitive and to talk about what this team means to our city and our region.”

Leiweke’s AEG was on board to contribute $59 million toward the proposed railyards arena when the Maloofs walked away from the financial framework last year. Leiweke seemed to choose his words carefully when referring to the owners Tuesday.

“It was not our idea to discontinue the conversation or to, to stop the momentum that we thought had been created here,” he said.

The Maloofs still aren’t talking publicly about the future of their team in Sacramento, but AEG is now on record saying it’s still ready to build.